Nick Ferrari

Writer and LBC radio presenter

Don’t target white men, says NICK FERRARI

EVER heard of Amanda Milling? What about Nusrat Ghani? Me neither but now let’s try the name Jo Churchill (although unfortunately, to the best of my knowledge, she’s nothing to do with the nodding dog insurance company).

So what can possibly link a trio who would appear to struggle to be names in their own households, let alone anyone else’s?

They all featured in Theresa May’s shambolic reshuffle last week, which served mainly just to underscore the absurdity of the “strong and stable” mantra to which we were ceaselessly subjected at the last general election.

As her key lieutenants either refused to swap jobs or simply quit, it was clear the Prime Minister had embraced her other slogan concerning those “just about managing” and turned it into a lifestyle choice.

After the chaos of day one of the reshuffle, the next day Mrs May was on firmer ground with a tier of politicians who do pretty much as they are told and so this meant it was about, as she put it, “bringing fresh talent into Government, boosting delivery in key policy areas like housing, health and social care”.

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Prime Minister Theresa May leads her first cabinet meeting of the new year

As with most things in life, there had to be losers as well as winners and it was white men who bore the brunt.

So far, so good. However her next goal was distinctly dubious. It was the lofty and liberal goal so beloved of social engineers of “ensuring the Government looks more like the country it serves”.

Let’s be sure to get one thing straight: of course everything that can be done should be done to ensure there is increased representation of women and ethnic minorities in everything from central government to local parish councils.

Not only is it healthy, it is positively beneficial. However, it has to be done at the pace of an evolution rather than a revolution. In the reshuffle, female MPs and those from minority backgrounds fared well, with Harriett Baldwin, Margot James and Caroline Dinenage all picking up pay rises as they were promoted to be ministers of state.

Meanwhile Indian-born Alok Sharma also enjoyed a promotion to the role of employment minister and Sam Gyimah, who has Ghanian lineage, was moved to be universities minister.

Theresa May's new cabinet: Who's who for 2018?

The Prime Minister has carried out a new year cabinet reshuffle

Prime Minister Theresa May (C-L) leads her first cabinet meeting of the new year following a reshuffle

As with most things in life, there had to be losers as well as winners and it was white men who bore the brunt.

Ten of the ministers who were shuffled towards the exit door were white males. Even the most blinkered zealot would struggle to justify that ratio and can you just imagine the scale of the row if it had been any group other than white blokes?

Bug-eyed representatives from the well-remunerated and cosy race industry would have been queuing to denounce all and sundry involved.

The BBC would have treated it with the same reverence as the death of a senior royal and nothing short of a full inquiry would have sufficed to dampen the flames of racial tension.

The disturbing truth now, however, is that to be a white male is to be the least protected of the species on the planet.

Consider the widely-used and highly derogatory term “pale, male and stale”. Again, let’s rework this and consider applying it to someone who is the polar opposite.

While it is often understandably difficult to muster much sympathy for politicians, for many this will be an exceedingly tough weekend as they are forced to come to terms with the uncomfortable truth that the “crime” for which they have been sacked is being born a white man.

Mrs May is clearly hooked on what is called positive discrimination but seems unaware of the potential accompanying negativity.

Can she not see the risk of appointing or promoting anyone by dint of their gender or colour? It’s right to wish them every success but it’s also practical to ponder on how big a retrograde step any failure could be.

Lastly, the PM admitted her goal was to guarantee the Government “looks more like” the country. In that she might well have succeeded. After all, it was all a bit of a mess in truth.

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REUTERS

Theresa May watches birds at the London Wetland Centre

In a depressingly lame bid to appeal to younger voters, the true blue Conservatives came over all green last week and sought to position themselves as guardians of the planet.

Quite why, if it is so crucial, it takes a quarter of a century to bring about would be beyond most sane folk, but these are of course politicians who have credentials to burnish and grandstands to mount.

Currently, for many young people, the Tories appear about as attractive as a bad dose of herpes and while many of them are far more environmentally aware than many other groups, the policy that would really interest young people would be one about housing.

As in how to build them and also be able to afford them. So, Prime Minister, stop twitching and start digging.

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GETTY

Oprah Winfrey won the Cecil B. DeMille Award at the Golden Globe Awards

Fewer things are more galling than being lectured about the rights and wrongs of the world by the self-righteous Queen of the Luvvies Oprah Winfrey.

Of course she has endured some horrific events in her life and her rags to riches story is one of great hope and, indeed, inspiration.

However, for someone obviously so savvy and supposedly tuned into the American psyche, it is startling that she has failed to grasp that it is that tone-deaf, liberal, preening band of elitists to whom she so joyfully preaches who powered Donald Trump to victory in the first place.

Just count the three BILLION dollars you’ve got in the bank, Oprah.

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PA

Clip from the latest Army recruitment advert

Just when you thought the world couldn’t get any crazier, you learn of an Army recruitment campaign based on the notion of encouraging anyone with possible emotional frailty to sign up.

While in no way being antediluvian enough to believe men shouldn’t show their emotions (they should) or even sometimes cry (it’s positively healthy on some occasions), what do you suppose the purpose of any army actually is? To defend. To fight. To kill.

It might be a regrettable fact but it is nevertheless an unalienable truth that sometimes a nation relies on hard men and hard women to endure conditions, witness events and do things most of us couldn’t contemplate in our wildest nightmares.

No one would benefit from people who could be vulnerable going on to the front line.

Not them, not the Army and certainly not their comrades who might be relying on them for their very lives.

The military is not to be treated as some kind of experiment in political correctness.

The police officer who snared 63-year-old German-born Imiela said he was “the worst criminal I have ever dealt with”.

He abducted, raped or attempted to rape nine victims aged between 10 and 52 and on one occasion phoned the mother of one of his victims and told her he had “just *****ed her” and she would soon find out. He was given seven life sentences but has served fewer than 14 years.

As the supposed party of “law and order”, the Conservative government needs to sort this out and quickly.